Details

With over 11,000 acres of water and 172 miles of shoreline, the lake is a perfect host for a great variety of activities.

Lake Shelbyville is a US Army Corps of Engineers facility, built as part of a general comprehensive plan for the development of the Kaskaskia Basin for flood control, recreation, water supply, and fish and wildlife conservation.

Visitors to Lake Shelbyville can expect to find a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities. If your favorite pursuit is camping, you can choose from close to 1500 campsites in areas operated by the Corps, the State of Illinois, and Sullivan Marina and Campground.

TRAILS: For the hiker, trails ranging from 1/2 mile to an 11 mile backpacking trail and 15 mile equestrian trail are scattered around the lake.

BOATING: If water-based recreation is more your speed, check out the marinas for boat rentals. Concrete launching ramps are located in most recreation areas. All major developed recreation areas have boat ramps with courtesy docks. In the event of flooding, high water boat ramps are also available in most areas. Small boat access ramps can be found scattered in other areas around the lake.

Four public beaches and two campground beaches provide ample space for the sunbather and swimmer. The public beaches are located in Dam West, Sullivan Beach, Wilborn Creek, and Wolf Creek State Park. All are accessible. Dam West Recreation Area offers beach mats for easy access as well as an accessible playground.

Lake Shelbyville is renowned for great fishing! In fact, Lake Shelbyville was selected by Bassmaster Magazine as one of the best bass lakes in Illinois. A rural Windsor man and Lake Shelbyville fishing guide, Bruce Sanders, caught and released the new Lake record white bass! The record bass weighed in at 4lbs. 2oz.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains sizeable populations in 16 ponds that it manages in conjunction with the local Department of Natural Resources.

Visitors can fish in more than 11,000 acres of clear water where catfish, largemouth bass, crappie, walleye, muskie, white bass and bluegill are in abundance. The new Lake record Catfish was caught in 2002 by Shelbyville resident, Chris Rentfro. The catfish was 62 lbs. 10oz. and was 48 inches long!! Lake Shelbyville offers some of the best largemouth bass fishing in the Midwest. Novice and avid fisherman alike will find plenty to catch, even with the 14-inch minimum length limit.

Fishermen appreciate the fact that the average-size keeper is more than two pounds. Tournament anglers generally need to catch between 16 and 17 pounds to win the average one-day event!

Since a number of Muskie were caught over the 36-inch limit, the new size limit is now 48 inches. A decade down the road if these fish are caught and released properly we will have 40 to 50 pound muskies in Lake Shelbyville. The longest Muskie caught in Lake Shelbyville, on September 14th, 2001by Tom Ozee of Mattoon, was 51 inches and weighed 30.09 ounces. Another Mattoon man, Matt Carmean, landed the newest Illinois State Record for Muskie. The new record was caught on April 20th 2002 weighing 38 pounds 8 ounces and 50 3/4 inches long! Lake Shelbyville promises, in the future, to be a leader in the Muskie world.

Cover/Structure:

Backs of coves, deep water holes,wooded shoreline, inlets, islands

Tips/Tactics:

Fishing reports on Lake Shelbyville regularly include mention of active muskies feeding in the backs of coves or of muskie caught by accident off deep-water points especially in the prime months of April, May, October, and November.

Photos

Map

Fishing Reports

The lake is about two-feet low but is rising with the rains we have experienced lately. This has given quite a lot of color to the north end and the crappie fishing on that end is improving. I am mostly still fishing the deep south end where the water is still gin clear.
The water temps have fallen to 78-80 and this has really improved the white bass fishing. They are starting to follow shad into the larger coves that have feeder creeks and then the wind will get them right o...

Lake Shelbyville Best Bet…Crappie & White Bass
The water temps haven’t really dropped much and the lake is about a foot low. Our water temps today were 87 and gin clear.
I am crappie fishing early in the morning on down trees on river channel banks. We are setting a slip bobber and minnow up to be in the thermocline or about 15-18 feet. Early in the morning the bigger crappie are right on bottom under the biggest down trees they can find. They are utilizing th...

now that school is out, you should take your little fisher person on a guided trip with me. The summer crappie fishing is always good at Shelbyville. Clients are already booking for the fall crappie bite and the shallow white bass fishing in late September and all of October, which is a sight to be seen. We make hundred fish days a normal routine. Once we get int...

Lake Shelbyville Best Bet…White Bass & Walleye
The lake temps have gone all the way up to 83 then back down to 68, but I think that is behind us now. We can see a warming trend that will turn the white bass into a feeding frenzy. I had started to see busts but the water temps dropped and we got several days of hard wind and rain. This dropped the whites back into deep water and trolling was the best way to get them since they were suspended. Once we start to warm back up,...

Lake Shelbyville Best Bet…Crappie, White Bass & Walleye
The crappie spawn is done for the most part. I have been cleaning some fish with eggs in them but they look like they will absorb them. Water temps are running 70-73 and the lake is just under summer pool and very clear. The crappie have pulled off the bank to mid-depths on the north end. I am getting them in brush in the 6-10 foot range on my minnow slip cork rig. Jigs are kind of tough so I have been joining the cl...

The crappie spawn is 90% done on the south end but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch them. Post spawn fish are very hungry. The north end is still going strong due to the lake coming up to summer pool. Today May 3rd the water temps on the north end were 66 and the females we cleaned had eggs that were very dark and that means they are spawning. Since the lake is rising we are fishing very shallow 3-5 feet of water and sometimes even shallower.
I am using a red 1/4oz. D...

he warmest spring I can ever remember has the crappie all staged up for what looks like an early spawn but looks can be deceiving. I have seen water temps all the way up to 71 degrees already but as of today early April they have dropped to 60. The males are still very dark in their courting colors but have dropped back off that very shallow pattern to set up at about 6-10 feet on the north end and even deeper on the south end. I have been getting some very nice crappie on beds so far and h...

Do you have Cabin Fever? Are you biting at the bit to get out and do some fishing??
The fishing shows kept us going this winter but spring is finally here(if not a little early) and I'm getting ready for another great season of guiding on Lake Shelbyville. If I didn't see you at one of the shows and you are wanting to set up a date, this is what I currently have available:
April: 24
May: 28, 29, 30, 31
June: 5, 7, 10, 13, 17, 19, 20, 21,...

The fishing is red hot right now for crappie. We have been getting our three man limit each and every day. The water temps are perfect and the fish are bunched up and feeding heavily. We are working on main lake brush in the 12-16 feet range and even deeper on the south end. Just bury a Deep Ledge Jig 1/4oz. in the brush or out on the end of a down tree and hold it very still. They will hit it so hard it about takes your shoulder off. Then simply reel him in and repeat. That simple but not...

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The fishing is red hot right now for crappie. We have been getting our three man limit each and every day. The water temps are perfect and the fish are bunched up and feeding heavily. We are working on main lake brush in the 12-16 feet range and even deeper on the south end. Just bury a Deep ledge Jig 1/4oz. in the brush or out on the end of a down tree and hold it very still. They will hit it so hard it about takes your shoulder off. Then simply reel him in and repeat. That simple but not...

What months are my favorite for crappie fishing? You might be surprised that it's not just May when the fish are on beds but it's also November.
If you follow my Lake Shelbyville Fishing Report you'll know that November holds treasures galore at 10 - 18 feet with 75 -100 fish per day!
There are quite a few anglers enjoying the great crappie fishing, despite the winds that we've had.
Hope to see you on a lake sometime soon!
There's still time to bo...

I have been waiting for this all year. The crappie fishing is as hot as it gets. Water temps are hovering in the 55-57 range and the fish are biting very good. I am working mid depth range on north end or about 10 feet then next day moving south and working deep stuff 14-18 feet just to mix it up and let my brush piles rest for a day or two.
We have been getting our three man limit just about every day but more important we are catching about 75-100 fish a day. They are...

I have put all my other rods away and only crappie fishing the rest of the season so here is what I am doing. I have a three man seat up on the nose of the boat and we are vertically fishing over down trees and hidden brush with my Deep Ledge Jigs and a Midsouth tube filled with crappie nibbles injected into the tube with my bait pump.
We are concentrating on down trees on river channel banks that have many good branches left on them in fifteen to twenty feet of water. We a...

The water temps have been bouncing to as low as 61 back up to 67 and I am starting to get big black crappie shallow. You need a god stain to the water to accomplish this. I have seen this condition up in the lakes bigger rivers. They are difficult to navigate so if you don't know where you are going I suggest you stay on the lake. But no worry I am doing very well on the lake as well.
On both the rivers and the lake I am using a slip bobber and a big shiner under it on a pl...

With the cooler weather we have been having the crappie fishing has really improved and so has the white bass fishing and I have even seen walleye showing up at the cleaning station. We have had our three-man limit on crappie about every day for a couple of weeks and then going white bass fishing the last couple of hours of the trip and getting a ton of them as well.
Water temps dropped to 69 then rebounded to 75 but that turned on the bite and the fish are hitting the feed...

With the cooler weather we have been having the crappie fishing has really improved and so has the white bass fishing and I have even seen walleye showing up at the cleaning station. We have had our three-man limit on crappie about every day for a couple of weeks and then going white bass fishing the last couple of hours of the trip and getting a ton of them as well.
Water temps dropped to 69 then rebounded to 75 but that turned on the bite and the fish are hitting the feed...

Just a fishing reminder. I have been doing very well on crappie these past few weeks and the white bass will get really going once the water temps drop into the low seventies and we are close to that. Last year the mid September and early October white bass fishing was every bit as good as we did early summer. Then the mid October on through all of November crappie fishing is the best it will be all year long. We routinely have streaks of thirty days or more with a triple limit and catch three...

Hello Everyone, I try and do this a couple of times a year just in case you had wanted to go fishing with me but for some reason forgot. We are experiencing another year of high water so I have adapted and the fish have as well. The one thing about high water it keeps the fish shallow since we have new weed growth for them to hide in. Take a look at all
the happy clients pictures on my website and hopefully one of them will be you.
Once again the white bass fishing is through the...

The lake is now at winter pool so be very careful out there especially on the north end. Water temps are running about 46-50 and the lake is very clear. We need some rain to put some stain back in the water. I have been crappie fishing only and we have been catching tons of fish but lots of small ones. We are catching about 120 or so a day just to get a good looking three-man limit of 45. So the action is good.
I am concentrating on downed trees that reach way out into the...

Lake Shelbyville Best Bet... Crappie
The lake has had a lot of rain fall and currently we are at summer pool or six feet high for this time of the year. Water temps are running 41-45 degrees. The north end is running very stained to almost muddy but we are still catching crappie. The south end is still very clear and the crappie are starting to move into the coves. Earlier than I thought they should but I have been getting them in deeper brush piles towards the back of the...

The north end around the Coalshft bridge area anglers are catching tons of crappie along the shoreline near down trees on jigs and corks. Anywhere there is deep water near shore the fishing has been good. The mid lake section to the south end has a lot more of these areas with the river channel going right by the shore with tons of down trees. We are fishing deeper on this end since the water is clearer. Most of the fish are between 15-22 feet deep. We are vertical jigging these spots with my...

The ice is 99% gone and people are catching crappie. The river channel banks that have down trees on them are your best bet. If sunny the fish will move all the way up to the shoreline late in the day. Otherwise the very end of the down trees target the highest branches in fifteen feet or so of water.
The white bass are moving up the reservoir and anglers are catching them on the shoreline as they travel through. They will move up the Kaskaskia to spawn and the bank fishing...

Loyal Customers, I don't want you to miss out on the great crappie action.
We start with an ice-out period in March for deep suspendingcrappie and follow them through the spawn in to May. We then spend a month, June to be exact, chasing Walleye and surface busting White Bass and once summer hits, it's White Bass & Buffalo for the kid in everyone. Tons of action!!!!
Get your trip(s) scheduled now as new clients are calling & emailing every day. Here are my avail...

With last weeks cool evenings the shallow bite has come alive. I have caught some very big crappie and large mouth this week up in the feeder rivers. The water temps up there dropped all the way to 53. They have rebounded back to 57 but I have caught fish in less than a foot. They are chasing shad. On the lake the water is very clear and water temps not quite so low but they did get down to 63 and now are running about 67. I am getting my crappie on wood on points in about ten to fifteen feet...

The cool evenings has got the crappie moving. We saw our surface temps fall from 76 down to 65 in just a few days. Once we get down to 60 it will really start and the crappie fishing will be very good for the next two months or even longer. Typically mid October and all of November is the very best crappie fishing of the year. Even better than the spring due to stable weather patterns and the crappie's urge to fatten up for the winter. Like the white bass the crappie have moved shallow this we...

The water temps are running 73-76 and the water is gin clear. We have started crappie fishing this week and are doing pretty well. I have been averaging about 60-75 fish a day and of that about a third are over ten-inches with some reaching fourteen-inches or 1 and 3/4 pounds. I am catching them on clear colors such as smoke glow or pearl white on my Deep Ledge Jigs. We are catching fish on lay downs on both main lake and coves in water as shallow as eight feet and as deep as twenty. It just d...

Water temps are running about 79-80 degrees and lake is gin clear. The Corp is finally done dropping the lake back to summer pool and this has got the fishing back up and rejuvenated. I am working main lake flats with wind blowing on them very shallow for the white bass and walleye. Wind is the key for this fishing. I am throwing a 1/4oz. Big Dude which is a blade bait similar to a sonar or cicada. I am also throwing a Blue Fox Vibrax spinner number 3. We are averaging about 150...

The lake level stands at 600.31 which is just barely above normal summer pool. The water is stained throughout the lake but very fishable. The water temperature is in the mid to upper 70's.
At this time fish are spawning or spawned out. We are catching crappie and white bass with eggs still in them and we are also catching the same fish without any eggs.
We hate to keep saying the same thing over and over every week, but we are seeing the same fishing conditions...

Lake Shelbyville Best Bet... Walleye & White Bass
The water temps have risen up into the high seventy range and the lake is at summer pool and very clear. So clear one would think you need wind and boat traffic just to give it some color so you can catch fish. I would be wrong. I am getting walleye from five feet of water and lots of them. I am getting quality Large Mouth and huge White Bass all the same pattern just run and gun the flats.
The crappi...

Lake Shelbyville Report:Although the Lake is high right now, the water is fairly clear and the spring muskie bite is good. If you are going to be in the Effingham area soon, schedule a trip and have a great day of muksie fishing. Ron Fulk Midwestmuskies.com 847-697-1951muskyonwater@aol.com...

Guides

Guided fishing trips year-round at Lake Shelbyville in Illinois. Enjoy the day, fish your limit of white bass, crappie, muskie, and walleye while you learn more about fishing from professional fishi...

If you are looking for an Illinois fishing guide you have found the right place. We take pride in our Lake Shelbyville Illinois fishing guide service! Book a fishing guide trip with Don or Barb Satt...